So many possums...so few possum recipes
Comments (16)
Related Discussions
So, What Do YOU Do About Coons And Possums?
Comments (45)I think this is a very tough issue. We chose to live on conservation b/c of the wildlife that we might see. We have lived in our home for over 4 years and I've never seen a 'coon or 'possum in our yard. We did have an armadillo issue for which we hired a trapper to catch and relocate to his acreage (he said that's what he would do and I hope he did). Other then that, I have never had a problem with any animal eating/stealing/destroying anything I have grown. I have a 40-mile roundtrip commute to my office each day. Every day, I see so many poor animals that have been run over. At the rate I am seeing roadkill, I truly question that there are more of them than there are of us. Look at the amount of habitat loss! I also blame some, certainly not all, of the animals that get hit on people not paying attention to the road and/or speeding. One of the main roads leading to where we live is a very dark, narrow, 2-lane road. Because I have seen deer, rabbits, 'coons, etc., I know to drive as slow as I can and pay extra attention to my surroundings. But that is my soapbox for another thread. Personally, I cannot justify killing these animals, unless like Nicki said, it's for food or the animal is suffering. Call me a bleeding heart, but I personally do not think it is right to kill or harm these animals because they eat our veggies. Like Marcia and others have said, my philosophy in my yard is to live and let live. I have enough space and grow enough stuff to be able to share with the wildlife that live around me....See MoreA possum here, a possum there, possums everywhere
Comments (153)Terryr, why are you saying it? Obviously, you don't know anything about opossums. I'm sure they were dead. There is no way an opossum will "play dead" for 24 hours. A 6" baby wouldn't even know how to play dead. They don't know who or what to be afraid of. I have seen many adult opossums playing dead after they had been confronted by my dog. They will come back to life within hour and even in the presence of a human (but not a dog!!!) . Chilled babies can look dead, but you can bring them back to life if you place them in warm water,with the head up (if it's not to late and they are still alive). After 24 hours the body will become "stiff" and a little hard if it's dead. If it's soft and floppy, it could be alive. Also, a dead animal will be cold to the touch. Less than a 7" baby should be with it's mother. Without the mother they will die quickly from dehydration and from exposure (even in warm weather - they can't control there body heat at this point.) Mother-opossum's will not return for lost babies, even if she is alive. So leaving 6" babies where they were would not be a good idea. Please, check the link bellow....See MoreThanks Glenda! (don't let Marilyn_C see this!) LOL
Comments (14)LOL Marilyn. Glenda, if they're enjoying the peanuts, they can toss on the living room carpet and even grind them in and I won't care ... we're getting new carpet next week. :-) I wonder if we have Moon Pies here is So Cal. I'll have to check around. Don't need them for the meeting though as I'm set with desserts. I ordered a Cherry pie, Pecan pie and of course (you'll understand why if read the book) ... a Chocolate cream pie from Marie Callendars. I took tomorrow off to get ready for the meeting. I will attempt to make cheese straws. I'm disappointed that I couldn't make them a day or two early so they could set but 10pm is the earliest I've left the office since Sunday. ugh. If that doesn't work out, I'll be making cute little cucumber and pimento sandwiches. No time or energy to do much more. Jodi-...See MoreI'm so upset... I've lost so many roses....
Comments (41)Wow. You guys are great! Thank you all so much for the kind words and encouragement. It helps a lot. And I see I'm not the only one in this boat! I do know that things will get better, and I can always plant new roses, etc. But it's just the loss of the rare roses that pisses me off. Why couldn't it be the more common ones that are easily replaced? Of course that's not the way it goes, altho there were a few of those too! And it's my fault for planting the tiny own-root bands in this crappy soil of ours before they've grown to a decent size. And it's my fault for not keeping on top of the sprinklers to be sure they are covering the entire beds, and my fault for not getting the most invasive weeds and underplantings pulled out when they were smaller. But... that's because I've been so busy, and overly obsessed and buying waaaay too many roses. I'm not growing and cultivating them, I'm collecting them. That's what I do. I collect things. It's sad. It's a sickness I guess. I know that in the coming seasons I will get all the beds done. And Bluegirl, yes I am doing what you said. I plant a rose, or weed part of a bed. In this heat, that's all I can do. It's slow going, but it's nice when I do get something done. Right now tho, I also am now dealing with the death of my 98yr old mom. We've been expecting it for sometime, but it's kind of surreal now that it has finally happened. My brother just flew out from Upstate NY and my sister is coming up from SoCal, so we will be dealing with all the estate and stuff over the next two weeks. I'm not going to get much done in the yard for awhile, except watering. Which is ok, since it's been too darn hot to work out there. By then it will be cooler and easier to do stuff outside. The only drawback now is the days are getting shorter, so I won't have as much daylight to get things done. Oh well, it'll get done when it gets done. LOL My life will be so different now. I'll have more time and less stress. Not that Mom was stressful. It was my niece who is my partner in the shop, and who lived with her. She's got mental issues and was a nightmare to deal with regarding Mom. Our lives revolved around her needs and wants, and my younger son and I had to go stay with Mom whenever she wanted to have time off. Now I have freedom, and so does Mom! She was trapped in her bed in a body that didn't work and a mind that was basically gone. I will miss her, but I will not miss the ordeals we went thru with my niece. And I will think of Mom when I'm out there working in the garden. Being out there will help me get over her passing. Judith, your chickens sound wonderful. We only have room for a few. (In fact we're not supposed to have more than 2... which is totally ludicrous... why bother?) Anyway.... we built a decent little shack for the girls and have a run that's 8'x24', but we're going to add another 10-12' in length and use our old satellite dish to put over part of it. It's going to be a fun and funky set-up for them. And next yr... I want some of those Blue Laced Red Wyandottes and Brahmas. Can't wait! Oh and I also am using weed barrier under some of my potted roses. Saves on weeds that's for sure. Altho they still get in the pots. But now I am sort of cultivating some weeds. Those are the goodies for the chickens! They love it when I bring them their "greens!"...See More- 9 years ago
- 9 years ago
Raven, I have seen possums with horrific wounds heal right up, and I have seen perfectly healthy looking ones drop dead over night. They are strange creatures. They grow their entire lives...which are very short....good, I suppose. ;) Then if they continue to grow...like if they are kept as pets, they almost always die from congestive heart failure. I have never kept one as a pet, although I have been tempted because some of them are incredibly sweet. I had one named Praline, and she was so sweet and cuddly. They are very primitive animals and they don't usually do well as pets. If you pet them, they think you are a predator....so they really don't enjoy it. There are groups on FB for people with pet possums and they love them to the point that almost defies description but those possums are handled every day so they are more tolerant of being a pet. The ones I raise don't get handled....partly because I don't have the time and I am not trying to make them pets...and they will bite the dickens out of me every chance they get. Now a totally wild possum, will almost never bite unless it has been stressed out or is injured. They show defensive behaviors, like opening their mouths and hissing but they won't bite. I can scoop them up like a house cat, just by putting my hand under their belly. I never pick them up by their tail...like most people...even rehabbers...do. The second possum I ever raised....before I got into it on such a large scale....was a tiny baby and she slept with me, in the sleeve of my nightgown. I am a very light sleeper, so I didn't roll over on her. They don't potty on you, because as a pouch animal, the pouch must be kept clean, and so the mother possum controls when they have to potty. She stayed with me for five months, but then she wanted to go, and I let her, although she came back for several months. Always tame and would ride on my shoulder while I went around looking for something to feed her. That was Shirley. Possums are incredibly clean animals....someone said, "Ugh! They eat dead cows!!" I said, "So do I."
- 9 years ago
Dawn, I would just tell his story....how I found him online and he was in a kill pen and due to ship in a couple of days, and wished I had him, and the next day got an unexpected call from our atty. that a long time insurance claim had finally settled. So I thought that was a sign that I get him. Paid for him and two days later, he was home. How I fed him and the vet appointments to get his feet x-rayed and special shoes. and I would finish up by telling them what a very special horse he is, and how he rides so well. And I would stress that many horses end up in kill pens through no fault of their own because their owners take them to auctions, and that is where kill buyers get most of them. I would probably conclude by saying any animal should be a life time commitment and not to be discarded so casually because they could very well end up in a kill pen and might not be so lucky as Val, to find a home. I would probably also quote the statistics of the thousands of horses that ship every month to slaughter. And I would probably say that since horses are livestock, they will always be slaughtered and it was wrong to send them out of the country where it can't be overseen and regulated. If slaughter is to continue, bring it back to the states. Not one horse was saved when slaughter was outlawed in the US. All it did was increase their suffering a hundred times over.
Did you see his recent picture? He is looking good. This was made last week.
Yayagal